“Nobody today, except the Iraqi ambassador, tried to claim that Iraq has fulfilled its obligations. Nobody tried to argue that ‘serious consequences’ means something other than military action. Nobody disputed that, just three months ago, the council’s 15 members passed Resolution 1441 unanimously-not casually or unwittingly so, but after seven weeks of negotiations, in which Secretary of State Colin Powell altered the language to meet French reservations. Powell looked clearly flummoxed during his turn for comments today. One question he should have asked de Villepin: ‘Why did you sign Resolution 1441 in the first place if you never had any intention of carrying out its enforcement clause?'” – Fred Kaplan, eloquently stating the obvious. And the more you think about this, the more you realize that France must have signed onto 1441 entirely duplicitously. They did so as a delaying tactic, knowing full well that they would later sabotage it. This is why the epithet “weasel” really is appropriate. France could have refused to sign 1441, after all. They could have signed a resolution that did not demand immediate and complete cooperation with the U.N. They could have signed a resolution that did not threaten “serious consequences.” They didn’t. Now they pretend they did. You simply cannot do business with these people.
THE TIMES FINDS A BACKBONE: I’m exhilarated by the New York Times editorial position today. It’s clear. It isn’t treading water. It sees through the flim-flam of the Franco-Germans. Has someone serious finally gotten a hold of that column? Have they finally made up their minds? Here’s hoping.
HOW WE’RE HELPING AFGHANISTAN: Don’t believe the anti-Bush hype.
The Dish 